Improvement in sewing-machines



I, MANNING.

Sewing-Machines. No. 145,515, Patented Dec-16,1873.

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IRA MANNING, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO MELANETHON S. FRINK, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 145,515, dated December 16, 1873; application filed September 23, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IRA MANNING, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings making a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 represents, in perspective, so much of a sewing-machine with my improvement attached as will fully illustrate the invention. Fig. 2 represents, in perspective, the manner of connecting the presser pad or plate to the bent lever, so that it may be adapted to suit the operator or user of the machine.

The presser bar or foot of a sewing-machine, so far as I know or can learn, has heretofore been raised and let down by some operation of the hand or fingers of the operator or user. I lay no claim to any such operation; but it frequently happens in sewing, and particularly in sewing boots and shoes, that the operator or user requires both his hands for properly placing and holding the work in place while or until the presser-foot comes down upon it, and when he must use one of his hands to let down thepresser-foot the work becomes displaced, and must be rearranged at loss of time.

My invention consists in a mechanism con-' nected with the presser-foot, or presser-foot bar, and extending downward below the sewing-machine table, so that the operator or user may, by the knee or leg, raise, hold up, and let down at pleasure said presser foot, and thus give him or her free use of both hands for arranging and holding thework to be sewed while the presser-foot comes down to receive it; and it further consists in a presser pad or plate, arranged below a sewing-machine table, and connected with the presser foot or bar by suitable mechanism for raising, holding up, or letting down said presser-foot, by pressure applied by the leg or knee of the operator or user, and made adjustable upon a hinged lever or arm, so that said pad or plate may be not only adapted to the size of the operator, but to the position occupied while operating or attending upon the machine.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawmgs.

To the arm A of any known sewing-m achine is pivoted, as at a, a lever, B, the front end of which is connected with the bar I), to which the presser or presser -foot 0 is attached, and the rear end of said lever B is connected to the rockshaft f by a link or rod, (1, that is united to an arm, 6, that projects from said shaft f, supported in bearings g g, in which it can turn or rock. To one end of the rockshaft f there is fastened a bent arm or lever, h, which extends downward below the table 0, and toward the position occupied by the operator or attendant upon the machine. To the lower end of the bent arm or lever h there is hinged, by a horizontal pivot at i, an arm, j, upon which the pad or pad-plate k can be moved and adjusted, not only vertically, but circumferentially, aroimd said arm j, and held, when adjusted, by the set-screw m. The pad or pad-plate k is susceptible of four adjustments upon the arm j, viz., up, down, and to the right or left of the axis of said arm; and the arm j is adjustable in two directions, viz., toward or from the bent lever h, so that the pad or pad-plate k can be adapted to not only the size of the user, but to the position occupied at or near the sewing-point of the machine, and be operated by lateral pressure of the leg or knee. The rod 01 is adjustable to the arm 6, so as to regulate the height to which the presser-foot may be raised, and the connection of the lever B with the bar I) may be such as to admit of raising and lowering the presserfoot by the ordinary hand-lever and cam n, if desired to so raise it.

I am aware that a plunger coming through the cloth or bed plate of a sewing-machine has been connected with the presser-foot, so that it might be operated by hand to lift and hold up said presser-foot. To such construction or arrangement I lay no claim:

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In combination with a presser-foot or its bar, occupying the ordinary position on a sew ing-machine, the pad or pad-plate placed underneath the table thereof, and connected to said presser-foot or its bar by mechanism h f d B, as herein described, so that said presser foot or bar may be raised, held up, or let down by lateral pressure upon said pad or pad-plate, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The combination of the mechanism h f d B, pad or pad-plate 7a, hinged arm j, and bent arm or lever h, whereby said pad or pad-plate may be adjusted, not only vertically, but toward or from the position usually occupied by the attendant upon the machine, as described.

WVitnesses:

IRA MANNING. H. F. HEYL, J. A. SENSENDERFER. 

